Flight
by Melzy89
Summary: Darcy hears word of Lizzie's trouble and dashes to say farewell. Soon to be canon-balled. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries World.


_**My first Lizzie Bennet Diaries fiction. Hope you enjoy it! Soon to be cannon-balled but hey! That's the nature of this right? Please forgive any typos. I did the best I could at high speed. **_

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Settling at his desk after a long board meeting, his eyes landed on a wax sealed envelope. William Darcy carefully separated the wax from the paper to find a startlingly short note from Lizzie with even more shocking contents.

_Dear Will,_

_I'm so sorry but I have to cancel on the show tonight. Something horrible has happened and I need to leave Pemberley immediately for home. Wickham has... compromised my sister in ways I couldn't imagine._

_I am outstandingly disappointed to leave this way as I would very much have liked to stay. And to have gone to the show. With you._

_Sincerely,_

_Lizzie_

_PS. I thought the hand written note with the wax seal was the least I could do. Farewell._

Quickly waking up his monitor from sleep mode, he flew to Google. He typed in Lydia's name and scrolled. As much as he had once doubted her, Jane was the unlikely sister to be involved in a scandal; even less likely than Lizzie if he was honest.

Lizzie had been fine this morning. Full of smiles that made his stomach leap with hope and a gracious acceptance of his invitation to the theater. What could have changed so quickly? Reading George's name, knowing of his involvement in Lizzie's pain, made his blood run cold.

And there is was, in its sparkling font glory.

Immediately, he leapt to his feet and dashed for Lizzie's normal office space. Maybe he wasn't too late to say goodbye. When he pulled open the door, his last bit of hope fled. It was empty. He sunk down into Lizzie's normal seat and placed his head in his hands. He needed to think. To pause. To remember how to breathe. He needed to stop seeing in shades of red.

"George. Fucking. Wickham." He muttered.

He jumped to his feet as the door slammed open.

"Oh. I thought you were gone." He said, almost believing he was imagining her here.

"I was." Lizzie said quickly, stopping short in the door. "But I was in such a hurry I forgot my camera and, well, I'm not sure I can afford to buy another one. Especially now."

He looked over his shoulder and, sure enough, her camera sat, off for once, on the window ledge. Darcy reached over and handed it to her. She wouldn't meet his eye.

"I received your letter," he started.

He watched as her lips pressed into a fine line. She tilted her chin down and let her hair fall slightly in front of her face as she took a slow deep breathe.

"Yes. I gave it to your secretary. She said you were in a meeting." She looked up and only now did he notice the redness of her eyes. Before he was too consumed to notice with the surprise of her reappearance. "And since you're an intelligent young CEO with any understanding of Internet search engines I'm sure you know that..." her voice caught. She looked back down.

He wasn't sure if it was the right move with Lizzie, with their friendship still on shaky ground. He stepped forward and folded her into his arms.

She grew stiff for a moment, surprised and unsure, before clasping him tight and letting out one soft sob.

Then they were quiet, him holding her tight and she clinging to him for sanity.

All the while, his brain was whirring. He barely spared a moment to think of how this was his first and maybe last chance to hold her. She was on his mind but ... something about holding her, shielding her from this physically, got his brain moving.

"How are you getting home?" He asked quietly, not releasing her but rubbing his hands comfortingly across her back.

She rested her forehead against his shoulder. "Charlotte is picking up Jane and they're meeting me at the house I'm sitting." Lizzie took another deep breathe before continuing. "I called the Reynolds, the family I'm sitting for, and explained the situation the best I could but..." Lizzie pulled him tighter. "How do you explain to near strangers that a man you introduced your sister to is… _blackmailing_ your family with a sex tape! I mean…"

And then the sobs weren't quiet. He maneuvered them so they were sitting and he held her closer. She told the whole story, from the night in Vegas to the public declaration of love online. She talked about how Lydia had disappeared that morning and no one could get a hold of her on her phone and George's old number was disconnected. She muttered about the legal battle her dad was currently planning to start and what that would do to the family finances. Without Lydia involved, there would be little chance of success in the case anyway.

"So my sister, my high energy, world trusting sister," he sniffles again, "will likely be exposed to the Internet even if we get the best lawyer in the state because we won't know where to serve the papers to. And we don't know where she is! We don't..."

Lizzie froze and took a step back from Darcy. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to do this. It's silly of me to..."

"It's not silly Lizzie. You needed someone to talk to."

"And a shirt to make damp," she whispered quietly, shuffling her feet slightly, again refusing to meet his eye. "I'm embarrassed."

Darcy's brain was still in planning mode but he forced himself back into this moment with her. He reached down and touched her chin softly, tilting up her head so he could see her beautiful eyes. before resting a hand on her cheek. "Don't be. Not about the crying and not about your sisters actions. Neither impact my... respect for you." He released this tender hold and stepped back, breaking the spell.

"Call Jane and Charlotte. Tell them to go to LAX directly."

Lizzie looked puzzled. "What?"

"Is your camera the last thing you need? Are you packed?"

"What? Yes. What are you..."

Darcy pulled out his phone and began typing furiously. "I have more frequent flyer miles than I could dream of using and actually have a private pilot I like to use out of San Francisco International. It will be quicker for everyone to fly home." He looked at her. "It's the least I can do. I do feel a certain amount of responsibility for not informing you and your family of Wickham's true nature sooner."

"No, that's not… I... I ... William Darcy, you know I can't accept this. We can't accept this. We would never..."

"Please Lizzie." He said quietly, softly, urgingly. "Let me do this for you. Hannah is already booking the flights and setting up a car to take you home from the airport. Please."

Lizzie sighed. "I'll call but if they're halfway here already..." She tapered off and just focused on dialing Charlotte.

Darcy ended up walking her to a car bound for the airport. They exchanged a strange farewell and he hurried back into the office as soon as she was out of sight.

Now that he had done all he could about Lizzie herself, it was time to handle his old friend George.

"Hannah," he said, voice full of business. "Get Lewis in my office. Tell him it's an emergency. We need to trace an IP address and ... Tell him the situation is confidential." He began walking off before stopping. "Also Hannah, please get Fitz on line one for me."

He walked into his office and glared at the webpage still up on his screen. His line beeped and he picked up.

"Darce! Have you seen…"

"I need you to look out for Gigi for a while. I'm going to find this fucker."

The line was silent for a moment. "Can I kick his corpse when you're done?"

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_**I hope you all enjoyed this. It's my first LBD fiction but I had to get out the feels. I love the Lizzie Bennet Diaries Universe and hope you enjoyed what will be cannon-balled in the next 3 hours.**_

_**Best,**_

_**Melissa**_


End file.
